| Author | Message | ||
     Megan New member Username: schef1mm Post Number: 7 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 64.105.216.245  Rating: N/A |
Thanks Maggie! You have been a big help. I'm sure I'll have more questions when we get him. | ||
| Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 1202 Registered: 07-2005 Posted From: 71.111.230.109  Rating: N/A |
Yes you need to continue bottle feeding. Be absolutely sure this goat knows how to drink from a bottle, have the owner demonstrate this. Do not take him away from his mother and think you can get him on a bottle no matte what anyone tells you. They won't take one after nursing on their dam after this long and he will suffer as a result of weaning too early. If this seller is anywhere near caring they will tell you what to feed, even providing a couple of days worth until you can switch them to your own formula. Insist on this for the goat's sake. Usually a regular human baby bottle works fine for dwarf goats, you just need to enlarge the hole quite a bit. Get extra nipples in case you mess one or two of them up getting the flow right. If you can get HIS bottle it is what he is used to nursing from. There is a very good formula on the Articles page, much better for goats than ANY powdered milk replacer. Kids like their milk quite warm, nearly hot on your wrist. I would feed at least 3 times a day. Smaller feedings more often is what his dam would be doing. Don't fill him completely up, leave him a bit hungry maybe feeding only 8 ounces at a feeding. This will encourage him to eat solid food which he should be eating pretty well right now, but not enough to go without milk. They do need to be changed over carefully a sudden change in feed can cause bloat or enterotoxemia, both of which can be fatal. I bottle feed until 16 weeks old. At about 10 weeks you can cut back to 2 feedings a day. Then at 12 weeks old start decreasing the amount each week. When you wean do not mix the milk with water, just decrease the amount until one day you just stop. After a few days they will not want the bottle so much as they will just be expecting their regular feeding of grain and hay. There will be some head butting and it may get a bit rough looking. Your goat will be establishing a pecking order. Be sure there is enough room in the shelter and pen for the 2 goats to get away from each other to cool off some. DO NOT ALTERNATE DEWORMERS! Us eone for at least a year or until it becomes ineffective before switching. ROtating dewormers makes the worms resistant to ALL of the dewormers at the same time. Keep using the ivermectin. Vaccinating before 10 weeks old is pretty useless. Goats do not develop a working immune system untilthat time. FOr a vaccine to have any effect at all it must stimulate an active healthy immune system to produce antibodies. It is these antibodies that protect the goat from the disease, not the vaccine itself. So vaccinate at 10 weeks, 13 weeks and 16 to 20 weeks. For maximim effectiveness the CDT vaccine should then be given once every 6 months. If your other goat did not get this start him all over, it won't hurt and will help boost his antibodies to the highest level. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| Megan New member Username: schef1mm Post Number: 6 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 69.245.86.243 Rating: N/A |
Hi - I'm about pick up a 1 1/2 month old Nigerian Dwarf wether. He has been bottle fed and the owner wants to get rid of him pretty quickly. I'm kind of hesitant about this because I've never bottle fed before. Do I continue bottle feeding? If so I have no idea what exactly to feed, how much, or how often. I've read that they don't start developing their rumen until they're like 8 weeks. Any advice would be helpful. Also, I have a 3 month old Nigerian Dwarf... He's very friendly with us. Do you think he'll be welcoming of the new goat? I'm planning on deworming our new little guy when we get him and also 2 weeks later. Do I need to be concerned about my other goat and deworm him again also? I last dewormed with Ivomec. What would you suggest to alternate with? I think my last question is about CD&T shots. The lady that I purchased my current goat from said she gave him his CD&T shot and that I didn't need to worry about it for another year. The more research I'm doing the more I'm hearing about people vaccinating them at 4, 8 and 12 weeks then every year. I feel like a new mom freaking out! LOL! Any opinion would be appreciated. |